The Wine

Of the six single-vineyard Pinot noirs we produce, Freedom Hill Vineyard creates wines with the most structure. They are dense, dimensional, and rich with flavor. This Pinot noir emphasizes power and weight with aromas of dark fruit, black cherry, dark earth and clay. The Freedom Hill Pinot noirs I have produced age effortlessly for 10 to 18 years.

Freedom Hill Vineyard is located in the foothills of the Coast Range, 10 miles southwest of Salem, Oregon. During the day warm air rises from the valley floor, ripening the skins. At night, cool ocean breezes act to retain acidity. Planted on old sedimentary soils, the vines have a SW exposure at an elevation of 520’ to 580’. Our Pinot noir comes from two blocks, one planted in 2004 with Pommard and Wådenswil and one planted in 2008 with 777.

The destemmed grapes were fermented in five- to eight-ton fermenters with no SO2, allowing the fermentations to proceed naturally. After gentle pressing and settling, the wine aged in French oak barrels, 25% of which were new, for 16 months before bottling by gravity and without fining. This Willamette: The Pinot Noir Auction wine is a blend of the four best barrels and represents the best wine we produced in 2017. It is carefully selected to most clearly express the terroir of the site, the unique qualities of the vintage, and ageability. We produced six cases.

The Winery

St. Innocent produces distinctive Pinot noirs with an emphasis on the complex nuances of specific terroirs. This complexity is reflected in the aromas, flavors and, most importantly, textures that derive from a specific place in a specific growing season. The grapes are carefully grown and nurtured then harvested at the moment of maximum complexity. Our winemaking focuses on creating broad flavors and textures across your palate as well as capturing balanced acidity. We use medium-sized ferments that allow the young wine to stay in the 80ºs for one week, and press based on the balance of tannins. All single-vineyard Pinot noirs age in French oak for 16 months, using a variety of coopers and low percentage of new wood to ensure the wines taste of the site and not of the cooper.

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